Venezuela inaugurates Simon Bolivar mausoleum

Venezuela has inaugurated a mausoleum that will hold the remains of the South American liberator Simon Bolivar, an imposing structure whose brainchild was the late Hugo Chavez, AFP reports.

The sprawling mausolem is 50 meters (160 feet) tall and shaped like the sail of a boat, with an open space holding a wooden coffin on a simple granite stand. The coffin bears the initials SB between two golden leaves of laurel.

Chavez, who idolized Bolivar, came up with the idea of building the mausoleum in 2010.

But its inauguration has been delayed repeatedly because he was diagnosed with cancer in 2011. Chavez died of the disease in March of this year.

His successor Nicolas Maduro praised both men in speech Tuesday night at the new site.

Bolivar, who lived from 1783 to 1830, led the fight to free five South American countries from Spanish imperial rule.

Chavez championed an ideology he called 21st century socialism, in which the country's oil wealth was used to fund popular social programs, although many in the middle and upper classes accused him of running the country into economic ruin.

Maduro said "they are two men who manage to blend and connect."

Until now Bolivar's remains have been held at the National Pantheon, an old church.